Prices and markets.

Introduction to the Topic.

Ex.1.Read the text and answer the questions.

Price and Value.

In this unit we discuss the basic determinants of price. Price is not the same thing as value. Things are ‘valuable’ because people think they are, and for no other reason. The ‘value’ which an individual places on a commodity can not be measured; its value will be different for different people. This kind of subjective value is not the concern of the economist who is interested only in ‘value in exchange’. The economic worth of value of a good can only be measured in some kind of market transaction which reveals the value of the good in terms of what is offered in exchange for it. If 5lb of potatoes will exchange for 5lb of sugar, then the ‘price’ of 1lb of sugar is 1lb of potatoes. Nowadays practically all the exchanges represent an exchange of goods and services for money, and prices in terms of money are the market value of the things they buy.

Markets

Prices arise in transactions and this implies some kind of market. This need not, necessarily, be fixed location – a building, or a market place. Any effective arrangement for bringing buyers and sellers into contact with one another is defined as market. The small ad. columns of the local newspaper provide a very efficient market for second-hand cars. Face to face contact between buyers and sellers is not a requirement for a market to be able to operate efficiently. In the foreign exchange market, buyers and sellers are separated by thousands of miles, but the knowledge of what is happening in the market is just as complete, and the ease of dealing is just as effective as if the participants were in the same room.

For some commodities, notably fresh fruit and vegetables, the traditional market is still the normal arrangement, but for most goods the market is national one. Most consumer goods, in developed countries, are bought, and sold on a countrywide basis. For other commodities the market is world-wide. This is particularly true of the more important primary products such as rubber, tin, copper and oil, and of the basic foodstuffs such as meat, wheat, sugar, tea and coffee. Most of the products of advanced technology also have world markets, for example, computers, aeroplanes, ships and motor cars.

The price of any economic good, under market conditions such as we find in the world, is determined by the forces of supply acting through the sellers and the forces of demand acting through the buyers, determine the market price.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is the difference between ‘price’ and ‘value’?

2. Where do price arise?

3. What kinds of goods are usually sold in fixed locations?

4. What kind of goods are primarily sold and bought on a countrywide basis?

5. For what products is the market world-wide?

6. What is the price of economic goods determined by in the world?

VOCABULARY.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14